Carpet stretcher and tacker.



No. 651,253. Patented :une '5, |900. c. P. KNAPP.

CARPET STRETCHER AND TACKER.

(Application led Feb. 12, 1900.)

(nu mum' 2 sheets-sheen.

W/ TN E SSE S A'770HNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES P. KNAPP, OF DEPOSIT, NEW YORK.

CARPET STRETCHER AND TACKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part f Letters Patent No. 651,253, dated uJ' une 5, 1900.

Application filed PebruarylZ, 1900. Serial No. 4,947. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES P. KNAPP, of Deposit, in the county of Delaware and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Carpet Stretchers and Tackers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in devices for stretching and tacking carpet, and particularly the device shown and described in Patent No. 627,428, granted to me June 20, 1899; and'it has for its object an apparatus of this character which will be convenient to handle and of efficient operation and which lwill be of comparatively few parts and of simple construction.

The invention consists in certain details of construction, which I shall hereinafter specifically describe, and then point out in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specilication, in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 .is a perspective view of my improved carpet stretcher and tacker. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3

is an inverted plan view with the. stretcherplate in reversed position. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the stretcher-plate detached. Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of the tack-holding jaws. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the tackholding jaws shown detached, and Fig. 7 a detail cross-section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 2.

The head 10 of my device is made, preferably, of malleable iron and is provided with stub-axles 11, on which rubber-tired wheels 12 are journaled. Two arms 13 extend upwardly and rearwardly from the head and receive between them the lower end of the handle-rod 14, said rod being formed with an approximately-rectangular portion 14, whose upper and lower surfaces are longitudinally grooved to receive, respectively, the tack chute or tube 15 and the hammer-operating rod 16. The latter is pivoted at its rear end to a hand-lever 17, fulcrumed to move in a vertical plane in the handle-rod and extending above the upper surface of the same, and

5o at the other end the hammer-operating rod 16 is bent as shown at 1S and enters one of the openin gs in the hammer 19. The said hammer, as shown particularly in Fig. 2, has a curved lower-end pivoted on a lug 10a ou the head 10 and working snugly in a recess 10b in one of the axles 11, whereby it is prevented from wabbling, and itl is formed at the free end of its shank with a weighted or heavy head 19a, from which projects a driving-iinger 16", the said linger being so arranged at an angle to its head and with respect to the pivotal point of the hammer that it will extend exactly in a vertical plane when it is driving a tack, thereby givinga direct downward stroke. It should be noted in this connection, referring especially to Fig. 2, that by constructing the hammer-arm with a rearwardly-curved lower pivotal end and having the weighted head at the opposite end of this arm the head will lie back of the pivotal point even when the arm lies mainly in a vertical plane, and while it thereby readily maintains itself in upper position it can by a slight pull on the operating-rod 16 be easily thrown down to drive the tack.

Extending forwardly from the head 10 are spaced-apart supporting-arms 20, which are formed at their front ends with bearing-sockets 20, in which are hung the tack-holding jaws 21, said jaws being swung from eccentric pintles 21a, directly in line with the driving-finger 19" so that after a tack has been dropped point downward into the chute or tube 15 and has been directed into the jaws by the upward extension 21b of one jaw at the discharge end of the chute a reciprocation of the hand-lever 17 will cause linger 19b to drive the tack out of the jaws into the carpet and iioor. The jaws 21 are normally held with their lower ends shut, so that they may prevent the tack from dropping therefrom before the desired time, and for this purpose a U- shaped spring 22 is fitted in a correspondinglyshaped groove 22a, formed in a web 23, connecting the supporting-arms 2O near their front ends. The ends of the spring extend forwardly along the sides of the lug 23al (which supports the lower end of the chute 15) to an engagement with the upper surfaces of lugs 24 on the jaws, and as these lugs extend in IOO side of one of the arms 13 and adapted to limit the backward movement of the hammer.

27 designates a tack-receptacle pivoted to the under side of the handle-rod in convenient proximity to the mouth of the chute 15 and held in closed position by a suitable spring-catch 27a.

In order to stretch the carpet and hold it`` stretched while it is being tacked, I employ a stretching-plate 2S of triangular shape and formed with a central clamping block 29, adapted to fit against the under side of the web 23, being held rigidly in place by the thu rnb-nut 29, working on the bolt 25, inserted through the clam ping-block. My improved stretcher 2S is designed to be interchangeable. For instance, as illustrated in Fig. 1, it may be held with the end a located directly in front of the tack-holding jaws, the diverging adjacent sides b being provided with forwardly-turned prongs 80. When in this position, it enables the device to be easily used in the cornersof rooms and other close places, allowing the tacks to be driven close to the corners of the carpet, and also enables the operator by lateral manipulations of the handle-rod to stretch the carpet both forwardly and laterally, or when it isdesired to stretch one edge of a carpet when the adjacent sides are already tacked and to get a broad bear- Ass ing-.Surface the plate is turned around and clamped in the position illustrated in Fig. 3, when Qthe straight side c extends equally on cach side of the tack-holding jaws and slightly in front of the same, the said side being also provided with prongs 3l, which are turned forwardly in an opposite direction to the prongs 30 and which terminate in a slightlyhigher plane than the prongs 30, so that they will in no wise interfere with the action of the latter when the stretcher is held in the position illustrated in Fig. l.

As shown in detail in Fig. 7, the thumbnut 29 is provided with wings 29h, which are somewhat sharpened and bent to form prongs which act in conjunction with the prongs 30 and assist the tacker by taking hold of the carpet.

In practical operation the handle-rod is elevated, causing the foremost prongs on the stretcher to take hold of the carpet. The handle-rod is then depressed andthe forward end of the stretcher raised, the wheels acting as a fulcrum, until every prong on the angular sides of the plate and on the thumb-nut engagesthe carpet,and the device is then pushed forwardly with the edge of the carpet out of contact with the floor, thereby doing away with the friction which would otherwise occur. When the carpet is sufficiently stretched,

the handle-rod is again elevated `and held tightly between the side and one `arm of the operator, while one hand picks a tack out of the receptacle and places it point down into the mouth of the chute l5, whence it falls to the jaws and is caught therein, with its shank projecting out of the same. The hammer is then operated by means of the hand-lever 17 and the tack driven out of the jaws into the carpet.

j I wish it understood that the wheels illustrated serve mainly as a fulcrum, as just de'- scribed, and that I may use any other suitable device for this purpose.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire vto secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device of the character described, a handle-rod, a head to which the rod is connected, said head having supporting-arms extending beyond the rod in a forward `direction and formed with bearing-sockets, tackholding jaws having eccentric pintles fitted loosely in said sockets and having lugs extending on each side of said pintles, a spring bearing downwardly upon said lugs whereby to hold the jaws normally closed, and means for driving a tack out of said jaws, as set forth.

2. In a device of the characterdescribed, a`

handle-rod, a tack-chute mounted thereon, tack-holding jaws located at the discharge end of saidchute and swungon pintles, said jaws being provided with lateral lugslextending oppositely therefrom on each side of said pintles, and a spring bearing downwardly on said lugs whereby to close the jaws, as set forth.

In a device of the character described, the combination with the head, of the snpporting-arms extending forwardly therefrom, and formed with bearing sockets and a grooved web in the rear of said sockets, tackholding jaws having pintles whereby they are mounted to swing in said sockets, said jaws being formed with lugs extending on `each side of said pintles, and aU-shaped spring held in the groove of the web and having free ends pressing downwardly on said lugs, `as set forth.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a supporting member having a bolt thereon, of a stretching-plate arranged for connection to said bolt and formed with prongs, and a thumb-nut for holding said plate and having prongs arranged to act in conjunction with ,the prongs on the plate, as set forth.

5. In a device of the character described, a stretcher-plate of triangular shape formedion two of its sides with prongs bent in onedirection, and also formed on its third side with prongs bent in the opposite direction and whose points terminate in a slightly-higher plane than the lirstnamed prongs, as set forth.

IOO

6. In a device of the character described l In testimony whereof I have signed my the combination with a supporting member name to this speeieation in the presence of formed with a web, of a trian guiar stretehingtwo subscribing witnesses.

plate provided with a bearing-block adapted CHAS. P. KNAPP.

5 to fit the said web, and a detachable fasten- Witnesses:

ing for securing the block and web together, F. S. STITT, as set forth. M. D. BLONDEL. 

